I’m slightly addicted to the Indonesian kitchen but it’s pretty hard for me to actually post Indonesian recipes to my blog. Mainly because I want everyone—regardless of where on God’s green earth they reside—to be able to recreate my recipes without having to go on wild witch-hunts for special ingredients. When it comes to Indonesian cooking; that’s pretty darn hard to do.

Lots of dishes require special spices, spice blends or ingredients. We (and I use the term loosely:) also make use of a sweet and thick soy sauce named Ketjap (Kecap). Things like that are kinda hard to substitute and simply can’t be bought everywhere.

So here’s what I’ve done; I’ve tweaked my original Indonesian Chicken Salad and turned it into a salad using ingredients more widely available. I was not disappointed with the result. Not at all! In fact; I think I even like this version slightly better!

Earlier this morning I’ve flattened two chicken fillets with my meat hammer. Seasoned them with salt and pepper and grilled them, over really low heat, to prevent them from browning and crisping up too much. You could also used cooked and shredded (leftover) chicken for this recipe. I’ve covered them with aluminum foil and let them cool off on the kitchen counter.

I’m cheating. Going for parboiled and pretty round potatoes called “krieltjes” in my country. I’ve put them in some salted water and boiled them for a few minutes until they were properly cooked. You can chop up and cook some regular potatoes as well, just make sure to use potatoes that hold their shape!

Wash and finely slice 2 or 3 large spring onions.

Peel and grate a large carrot. Yes, there’s that cheese grater planer (or something) I’ve used in my potato salad as well! I have a give-away planned for that one pretty soon!

Wash and make match sticks out of 1/3 to 1/2 a cucumber. Play with the ingredients; if you like more or less cucumber, just adjust the quantities to your liking. You can do that with any ingredient you like or don’t like.

Get 1 or 2 thick slices fresh pine apple. Cut the skin off, cut the core out and coarsely chop them. Nothing is tastier and more fragrant than fresh pineapple. Yum!

In the mean time my potatoes were done. I’ve drained them, let them cool off a bit and transferred them to a large (salad) bowl. Cut them in bit-sized pieces. Or leave them whole. Whatever you like! I’m so easy-going!

You’ll also want to cut the chicken in small pieces. I wouldn’t recommend leaving them whole. It looks pretty stupid in a salad! :)

Add the chicken and all your other chopped ingredients to the potatoes. Put a large handful of bean sprouts in there as well, but only when you’ll be serving the salad immediately. Otherwise you’ll want to stir them in right before serving the salad. That way they’ll stay crispy.

Add 1/3 (slightly heaping) cup of a unsalted peanuts. You could also give them a few smacks first to coarsely pulverize them.

Now dig your hands in there and mix everything up.

You could serve it like this, and people would love it! But we’re gonna up the flavors even more.

I’ve finely minced about 1/3 of a medium-sized chili pepper. Not nearly enough to get everything flaming hot, but more than enough to add a bit of zing.

Check the seasoning. You might want to add some sugar or even salt. Always taste what you prepare. I left mine just the way it was because it was delightfully non-sweet and tangy.

Pour the dressing over the salad and carefully fold it in.

Garnish with a little chopped up coriander or flat-leaf parsley and you’re done. This salad hits all the rights spots, I tell ya! Best served room-temperature, and trust me when I say it’s a meal on its own!

I have an approach to many of the recipes on my blog – improvised ethnic. I stock several key ingredients that I can find locally that will give the essence of a certain cuisine (for example, coconut milk, fish sauce, chiles, and basil for Thai) without having to have every single authentic ingredient. This approach works great for home cooks – can’t wait to try this recipe Kay! (PS your photos are fab!)

This looks wonderful! I figured I should stop being shy and finally comment – I’ve been a follower of your blog for several months (found your site via the LJ cooking community) and your website is the first one I visit every morning. :)

In our little cottage, the pre-dinner conversation (which can start as early as 8am – we like food!) is usually some variety of “What should we have for dinner? Is there anything on Kayotic Kitchen we can try?” I think we’ve made somewhere around 20 of your recipes with great success. This recipe will make 21! Nom nom nom. :)

I am making a pasta dish with chicken and satay sauce tonight. This looks like a lovely variation to try, another time. I will have to find a nice pineapple, to show off my gadget that I have come to adore– it peels, cores and slices perfect pineapple slices! Maybe because I was born in Hawaii…but I LOVE anything with pineapple!

This looks so good. My mother is dutch, but born in Indonesia, so I grew up on delicious dutch/Indonesia foods. We have all the Sambals here at a local specialty shop. Which one would you recommend for this recipe?

This looks so good. My mother is dutch, but born in Indonesia, so I grew up on delicious dutch/Indonesia foods. We have all the Sambals here at a local specialty shop. Which one would you recommend for this recipe?

I usually make my own Sambal, but Sambal Badjak would work really well with this.

Hi, I found your blog by accident when I’m googling Indonesian recipes. I’m impressed that you’re able to make “gado gado” – that’s the real name of that salad you made, actually and we usually buy them from street vendors. Yummy and cheap!

By the way I’m an Indonesian living in Denmark and miss my home food and wish I lived in the Netherlands instead :(

Thanks! Our Gado gado is very different. We don’t mix the vegetables, but rather slice them and put them on a big plate next to each other. Wed add potatoes, hardboiled eggs, cabbage, cucumber, green beans, bean sprouts and drizzle the peanut dressing on top. The peanut dressing is made with djinten, laos and djahe. So in the Netherlands this is more a basic salad with peanut dressing than Gado Gado.

Wow! Stumbled across your site and was amazed and inspired by the variety and types of recipes! Tried this salad tonight and my husband and two teens loved it! Am looking forward to trying some others soon.
Wendy-Lee
Vancouver Island, Canada

Hi Kay,
I was surfing for an Indonesian recipe (Acar) to teach my class in Chile and I opened your page. It is beautiful and I loved your attitude and your style. I will be coming back for more. Saludos from Santiago.
Sonia